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Why Pfizer (PFE) Stock Is Down On Monday

While Pfizer's (PFE) experimental breast cancer drug in a clinical trial nearly doubled the amount of time patients lived without their disease getting worse, overall the survival was not yet shown to be statistically significant.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Pfizer Inc (PFE) are down -3.20 to $31.14 in afternoon trading.

While the company's experimental breast cancer drug in a clinical trial nearly doubled the amount of time patients lived without their disease getting worse, overall the survival was not yet shown to be statistically significant, researchers say.

That will delay the company's submission of results to the FDA.

It's expected to be a blockbuster drug and estimates are that it could generate over $3 billion in annual revenues by 2020.

TheStreet Ratings team rates PFIZER INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate PFIZER INC (PFE) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its impressive record of earnings per share growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, reasonable valuation levels, increase in stock price during the past year and good cash flow from operations. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

PFIZER INC reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, PFIZER INC increased its bottom line by earning $1.65 versus $1.20 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($2.27 versus $1.65).

The current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.48, is low and is below the industry average, implying that there has been successful management of debt levels. To add to this, PFE has a quick ratio of 1.79, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs.

The return on equity has improved slightly when compared to the same quarter one year prior. This can be construed as a modest strength in the organization. Compared to other companies in the Pharmaceuticals industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, PFIZER INC has underperformed in comparison with the industry average, but has exceeded that of the S&P 500.

Compared to where it was 12 months ago, the stock is up, but it has so far lagged the appreciation in the S&P 500. Turning our attention to the future direction of the stock, it goes without saying that even the best stocks can fall in an overall down market. However, in any other environment, this stock still has good upside potential despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year.